New Zealand v Australia - Auckland - 23 August 2014

[Fireworks]

Any ideas on who might be brought into the squad as a back up hooker?

Pat Laefa, Siliva Siliva, Hugh Roach?

 

[Highlander35]

According to the Rebels website, Leafa isn't eligible till January. Assuming Siliva Siliva is still injured, You're down to Tessman, Roach, and Anae I think, assuming all remain unfit.

 

[Oldschool]

The halves were an issue, for sure. The insipid performance up front was a bigger one.
I think we need to look at Phipps / Foley now, but if the forward play is as slow, flat-footed and un-dynamic as we saw last night, the benefit of playing Phipps and Foley with a more up-tempo style will be diminished.
Applying a template used by the Waratahs won't work just like that - it's not what McKenzie seems to be doing, and it takes time, fitness and trust for the players to implement it. In 2013, the Tahs didn't really trust the plan / style fully and were mixed; this year they got it and it worked. Besides, Test match rugby is not the same as we know, so it isn't that simple.
Real work must be done to get the defence organised better, to get the breakdown work more accurate and aggressive, and to work on support play / pass / catch better.
I think we are really a bit bereft at hooker (no offence but Charles and Hanson are not at the level of TPN and Moore), lock (but it is always hard when you are being compared to the best locking combo going around, I think) and THP (Kepu is going OK but that side of the scrum seems to be a bit on/off (maybe partly the work coming behind him??).
Speight will be a boost.
Make those changes / improvements and we are competitive with most teams, but still somewhat shy of the All Blacks at the moment.

Like your post mate, but are you bipolar? What with this 'we' shit when you have a fern in the top right hand corner. It's the wallabies or change your logo to that gold kangaroo holding a egg then you can say "we".

 

[Hugh Jarse]

^^^ Go easy on @Cyclopath.

He is one of us but he's been Pillocked. Normal service will return in a week.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

I'll be here all week.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Any ideas on who might be brought into the squad as a back up hooker?

Pat Laefa, Siliva Siliva, Hugh Roach?

Siliva is still injured and to answer Highlanders question, Anae is in Italy.

It could very well be Tessmann from Perth or Roach because realistically, there aren't too many others.

Also, Pat McCabe is in a neck brace again and it could be serious.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rug...-after-third-neck-injury-20140824-107s6s.html

 

[qwerty51]

Roach has been playing very well for Eastwood and had a great game for the Rams despite being in a losing side. Amazing rise if he gets a call up.

 

[NFL]

I don't think 'cattle' is the real problem though it's always an entertaining discussion from the couch.
The same 'cattle' have had a great Super season against kiwi teams and not for the first time.
IMHO, it's team mentality when compared to the AB's.
Their individuals just flat out seem to have more pride and fight harder for the team.
Saturday night the AB's cattle were a stampede and we were a dairy.

Is it possible to change the team mentality of the Wallabies ?

 

[Richo]

Crap news about Pat McCabe. Tough as nails, but if it's a third broken neck you've got to start thinking about the rest of your life.

Fingers crossed it's just a scare.

 

[Bairdy]

Well I guess this game will be buried deep into the archives, under the "Never Watch Again" folder along with the 2012 away game v Springboks, 2013 B&IL 3rd test, 2013 1st Bledisloe, 2013 home and away games v Springboks.........

 

[Quick Hands]

^^^ Go easy on @Cyclopath.

He is one of us but he's been Pillocked. Normal service will return in a week.

One big fish reeled in already. I hope you have the gaff handy.

 

[KOB1987]

I may get accused of overthinking here, but Link now potentially has an interesting dilemma:

In the 32 man squad he currently has 2 fly halves grouped - Beale and Foley. If, as most on this forum feel, Foley now gets the nod in the 10 jersey, it's not just because Link thinks Beale is playing badly, it's an admission that he isn't a test 10 and he was wrong. So if that's the case then he shouldn't be listed in the 'fly halves' grouping anymore and probably shouldn't wear the 22. So that means that most likely To'omua would become the 'other' fly half, and Beale would move to another grouping, either centres or more likely outside backs.

So Link's dilemma then becomes does he play both of his preferred fly halves together at 10 and 12, or does he play Beale at 12 and run either Foley or To'omua off the bench, depending on who starts?

I said last night that I don't think To'omua has been all that flash and Beale certainly looked better at 12 outside Foley as most agree..as always I'm not going to try to predict what will happen, I actually am not fazed either way, both will probably get tried at some point.

 

[KOB1987]

as an aside, I was talking to a good friend of mine who played 1st grade 10/12/15 in the mid to late 90's and has coached Country rep sides more recently..I'm not suggesting his view is rugby gospel but I do value his opinion..

He thinks both the Wallabies and Tahs should play Folau at 13 and Beale at 15..

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Crap news about Pat McCabe. Tough as nails, but if it's a third broken neck you've got to start thinking about the rest of your life.

Fingers crossed it's just a scare.

Amen to that & if there's even the slightest possibility it's another fracture he needs to pull the pin. Hate seeing anyone go out that way but better than being in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It is, as they say, only a game.

 

[qwerty51]

as an aside, I was talking to a good friend of mine who played 1st grade 10/12/15 in the mid to late 90's and has coached Country rep sides more recently..I'm not suggesting his view is rugby gospel but I do value his opinion..

He thinks both the Wallabies and Tahs should play Folau at 13 and Beale at 15..

I totally agree. I want to see Folau @ 13 at some stage at least.

 

[Quick Hands]

I may get accused of overthinking here, but Link now potentially has an interesting dilemma:

In the 32 man squad he currently has 2 fly halves grouped - Beale and Foley. If, as most on this forum feel, Foley now gets the nod in the 10 jersey, it's not just because Link thinks Beale is playing badly, it's an admission that he isn't a test 10 and he was wrong. So if that's the case then he shouldn't be listed in the 'fly halves' grouping anymore and probably shouldn't wear the 22. So that means that most likely To'omua would become the 'other' fly half, and Beale would move to another grouping, either centres or more likely outside backs.

So Link's dilemma then becomes does he play both of his preferred fly halves together at 10 and 12, or does he play Beale at 12 and run either Foley or To'omua off the bench, depending on who starts?

I said last night that I don't think To'omua has been all that flash and Beale certainly looked better at 12 outside Foley as most agree..as always I'm not going to try to predict what will happen, I actually am not fazed either way, both will probably get tried at some point.

Against the Boks I'd be keeping Toumoa at 12 and bringing Beale off the bench against tired defenders.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Moving Folau from 15 is ludicrous. Even more so to accommodate Beale. He is an equal counter attacker and a vastly superior high ball recipient.

Beale did great things at 15 in 2010 but still had a shitload of flaws and was only an option due to lack of viable alternatives.

 

[tragic]

Had a quick glance at some of the stats from the game.

Lots of stats were surprisingly equal but a couple stood out.

Missed Tackles AUS 22 NZ 10
Clean Breaks AUS 4 NZ 14

Lots of problems with our pass and catch, but if you aren't tackling the opposition, and missing second up tackles to contain possible breaks then you end up with scores like we saw last night, particularly when the other mob are making their tackles and effectively containing any 1/2 breaks.

Did anyone else notice how many of those 14 clean breaks were through the inside backs? No sure if it was a defensive back line issue or a loose forward issue but almost every time they turned the ball back inside they made a clean break. It looked to me like Hansen had done some analysis of last weeks game and exploited a major weakness.

 

[Oldschool]

as an aside, I was talking to a good friend of mine who played 1st grade 10/12/15 in the mid to late 90's and has coached Country rep sides more recently..I'm not suggesting his view is rugby gospel but I do value his opinion..

He thinks both the Wallabies and Tahs should play Folau at 13 and Beale at 15..

Well Link's experimenting with everything else so why not. Certainly give a bit of size about the mid field.

 

[Oldschool]

One big fish reeled in already. I hope you have the gaff handy.

Yep, us kiwi boys are a bit slow at times, especially the ones north of the border. I think it's something to do with the water up here.